Ephemera: City of the Dead

How to salvage your rainy weekend in Portland

It’s a rainy Memorial Day Weekend, but here’s a must-do. Click here.

Yes, the Portland Memorial Mausoleum throws open its doors this weekend. In my salad days the Cacophony Society would assemble here for October games of hide-and-seek, in these miles of galleries and chapels. Huge windows overlook the swamps of Oaks Bottom, with the neon lights of Oaks Amusement Park shining in the distance. Such eerie juxtapositions made it the premier location for dropping acid.

Yeah, and I wrote long sections of my novel Survivor while wandering this place with a notebook. An era so relaxed that I could run my two Boston terriers off-leash while I did so, and never see another soul for hours.

Over time the endless vaulted corridors and towers became a mecca for Goth sex and suicides. So the place has been under tight security for years. But this weekend you can see the labyrinth of carved stone, statues, and stained glass.

Sorry for the short notice, but if you’re around you really ought to see the place. It is unsettling and amazing.

Again, here are the details.